"We have within our technological reach the ability to build the 1st generation of the USS Enterprise. It ends up that this ship’s inspiring form is quite functional. This will be Earth’s first gigawatt-class interplanetary spaceship with artificial gravity. The ship can serve as a spaceship, space station, and space port all in one. In total, one thousand crew members & visitors can be on board at once. Few things could collectively inspire people on Earth more than seeing the Enterprise being built in space. And the ship could go on amazing missions, like taking the first humans to Mars while taking along a large load of base-building equipment for constructing the first permanent base there.

For more information see BuildTheEnterprise.org."

Please sign this! Its so important! Let's see an Enterprise in our lifetime, even if it's only sub-light...

LOL. Spend billions building a "life boat" version of the Enterprise, when the money is so desperately needed for far more practical purposes. Petitions like this are like playing the lottery. "You gotta dream!" But then you've also got to wake up in the morning.

This is less absurd, because if you actually see the website in question, you'll see that there is engineering and all kinds of serious plans as to how this ship might work. IE Artificial gravity via a super-rotational structure.

"We have within our technological reach the ability to build the 1st generation of the USS Enterprise. It ends up that this ship’s inspiring form is quite functional. This will be Earth’s first gigawatt-class interplanetary spaceship with artificial gravity. The ship can serve as a spaceship, space station, and space port all in one. In total, one thousand crew members & visitors can be on board at once. Few things could collectively inspire people on Earth more than seeing the Enterprise being built in space. And the ship could go on amazing missions, like taking the first humans to Mars while taking along a large load of base-building equipment for constructing the first permanent base there.

For more information see BuildTheEnterprise.org."

Please sign this! Its so important! Let's see an Enterprise in our lifetime, even if it's only sub-light...

This is a cool idea in theory, but it's just not practical. I want the Enterprise to be more than just a glorified delivery vehicle for colonies on the Moon and Mars. Colonies like that would be cool and all, but I can't imagine what possible benefits that we would obtain from them at this point in our technological development that could possibly justify the massive costs involved. After all, it's not just the construction cost, you also have to keep all of these facilities maintained and supplied. It would become a massive financial drain for very little return.

Now, if we ever can identify a planet around a nearby star that is actually capable of supporting human life, then I think proposals like this will be more realistic. If we are going to build the Enterprise, then I want it to have someplace to go - someplace to explore. Not just hauling supplies to Mars.